Methodology: how we rank offers and rate stores

How the true price is calculated

The true price answers the question “how much will I actually pay”. For keys it is the store’s price in rubles. For buying on Steam for Russia, the wallet top-up fee is added to the price: Russian cards don’t work on Steam, wallets are topped up through services, and their average fee is set in the site settings. The Steam price for Kazakhstan is converted to rubles at the Bank of Russia rate, excluding the cost of getting it: it depends heavily on the method.

If a store charges a payment-method fee on top of the price, it is added to the true price and shown in a caption.

How offers are sorted

In offer tables the order is the same for everyone: listings of the game itself first, then other editions and DLC, each by true price, lowest first. Advertising does not affect the order. Listings that can’t be activated in the selected account region are marked and moved to a collapsed block under the table.

Accounts, rentals and offline activation aren’t compared with keys: they are shown in a separate collapsed block with a risk warning. Marketplaces are placed in a separate table with the seller’s name.

Store trust levels

Reputation: good: the legal entity is listed on the site, there is an offer agreement, Russian cards or SBP are accepted, and we found no complaints about non-delivery. This is an observation from public data, not our guarantee.

Reputation: good, with caveats: legal details are not disclosed or there are notable complaints, but the store has been operating for a long time and delivers. Shown on the site as good.

Reputation: average: a marketplace with third-party sellers, or a platform without company details and an offer agreement. Shown with a flag.

Reputation: low: systematic complaints about bans or non-delivery. Shown with a warning.

The level is reviewed when new complaints arrive or terms change. The profile text for each store is written by hand and checked.

Where prices come from

Regional Steam prices come from the Steam storefront API at least once an hour. Store prices are collected by their connectors on a schedule, respecting robots.txt and pausing between requests. History stores only price changes, so the all-time low is calculated from all observations since the store was connected.